Rethinking hospital access—through experience, not just technology
Westmead is one of the busiest and most complex hospitals in Australia. Every day, thousands of people arrive for appointments, emergencies, procedures, and visits—often anxious, unwell, or time-poor. For them, finding their way through the hospital should be the easy part. But it wasn’t.
The experience of arriving, navigating, and waiting was frustrating for patients and visitors—and exhausting for staff. Signage didn’t align with what people were told. Appointment letters didn’t match reality. Digital systems weren’t fully connected. Check-in desks and reception areas were constantly overwhelmed with basic questions like “Am I in the right place?” or “Where do I go now?”
We were engaged to look beyond signage or kiosks—to understand the deeper patterns behind these everyday breakdowns, and design a better, more cohesive experience that worked for real users.
This work sat within our integrated User Experience (UX) and Service Design practice—an approach that maps how people interact with hospital environments not just spatially, but systemically. In a hospital context, this means aligning wayfinding, check-in, signage, appointment letters, digital kiosks, and staff interactions into one coherent experience. We identify where people get stuck, where operational intent fails to meet user need, and where small changes can deliver significant improvements—for patients, carers, and staff alike.
Project
Westmead Hospital Service Design
Client
Western Sydney Local Health District
Collaborators
Location
Westmead, Sydney, Australia
Size
Project Build Cost
Focus
Service design research, digital wayfinding strategy, and user experience improvement
Building an evidence base grounded in real experience
Our first step was to build a clear, objective understanding of what was actually happening on the ground—not what was assumed, and not what was written in service manuals.
Working closely with hospital operations teams, we established a structured data collection program that recorded thousands of real consumer enquiries over several weeks. Every interaction at reception desks and information counters was logged, allowing us to map not only the types of questions being asked, but their frequency, location, and timing. Patterns quickly emerged, showing that the highest volume of confusion stemmed from arrival, check-in, navigation, and finding essential amenities.
In parallel, we engaged directly with users through a series of structured focus groups. These sessions brought together a wide range of perspectives: patients navigating complex treatments, carers supporting family members, people with limited English proficiency, older adults, parents with young children, and first-time visitors unfamiliar with hospital environments. These conversations revealed not just logistical gaps, but emotional touchpoints—moments where the system made people feel anxious, invisible, or disoriented.
We complemented this research with in-depth interviews with frontline staff, volunteers, and service desk teams. These individuals had become the unofficial “wayfinders” of the hospital—developing personal workarounds like handwritten notes, improvised maps, and informal scripts to guide people through system gaps. Importantly, during this engagement we uncovered a valuable insight: while there had been concern at the organisational level that patient-facing staff might resist digital wayfinding tools like kiosks (perceived as a threat to job security), the reality was the opposite. Reception and information staff were overwhelmingly supportive. They welcomed the idea of better digital support, seeing it as a way to reduce the volume of repetitive questions and free up time to focus on patients and visitors who genuinely needed personal assistance.
Direct behavioural observations added another dimension. We tracked how people arrived, where they hesitated, how they engaged (or failed to engage) with signage and kiosks, and where they instinctively asked for help. Site visits at other hospitals within the same health district allowed us to cross-reference findings across different physical and operational settings, ensuring our insights weren’t isolated to Westmead alone.
Finally, we benchmarked all findings against international best practice in hospital wayfinding and service design—identifying where Westmead’s challenges reflected broader trends, and where local conditions demanded bespoke solutions.
By combining quantitative tracking, qualitative insight, behavioural observation, and benchmarking, we created a robust, multi-dimensional evidence base that moved beyond opinion and anecdote. It captured the real journey—not the intended journey—and provided a clear foundation for meaningful change.
What we found
Despite good intentions and significant investment in digital infrastructure, the hospital experience wasn’t functioning as a cohesive system. The physical, digital, and procedural layers were disconnected.
Navigation remained one of the top stress points. Nearly a quarter of all consumer enquiries related to wayfinding, yet signs, maps, and appointment letters rarely matched. Departments used inconsistent names, abbreviations were common, and many locations weren’t listed at all. Visitors frequently arrived without a clear path to their destination, or uncertainty about which level or corridor to follow. Wrong turns and constant requests for help added unnecessary frustration—and additional pressure on staff.
Arrival and check-in were equally problematic. More than one in four enquiries involved people simply asking if they were in the right place or if they needed to announce their arrival. The lack of clear cues and process explanations turned what should be a simple first step into a point of stress.
Waiting environments also played a significant role. People often didn’t understand where they were in the queue, how long things would take, or what stage of the process they were in. In the Emergency Department especially, a lack of communication about triage queues and waiting times created feelings of being forgotten or ignored, even when staff were doing their best under pressure.
Simple needs—like access to drinking water, toilets, prayer rooms, or interpreters—were hidden in plain sight. Facilities were often physically close but poorly signed, and digital information didn’t consistently reference them either.
What we proposed
Our recommendations focused on five interconnected areas: spatial consistency, digital integration, environmental clarity, staff support, and user empowerment.
Rather than adding new technologies, we proposed connecting and rationalising what already existed—creating a system that made sense from the user’s perspective.
We recommended a new spatial logic with clear zoning and consistent, user-focused destination naming—matching terminology across signage, appointment letters, kiosks, and verbal instructions. Instead of expecting visitors to learn internal hospital language, we proposed speaking their language from arrival to exit.
We designed a new approach for digital kiosks: not just as check-in points, but as multifunctional service touchpoints. These kiosks would allow users to confirm arrival, receive dynamic wayfinding instructions, understand estimated wait times, access multilingual information, and even locate amenities without needing to queue for help. Crucially, they were designed not to replace staff, but to support them—giving reception teams the ability to focus on more complex and sensitive needs rather than answering repetitive basic questions.
Signage was repositioned as part of an integrated system, not a standalone element. We recommended clearer visual hierarchies, grouped information blocks, and directional strategies based on natural movement rather than architectural layout alone. Maps were simplified to match real-world movement patterns, particularly for first-time users.
In the Emergency Department, environmental and operational improvements focused on transparency: visual triage status boards, estimated wait time displays, and redesigned seating layouts to support better flow and communication. Even when waiting couldn’t be shortened, it could be made more understandable and less stressful.
Finally, we addressed hidden touchpoints like appointment letters, SMS reminders, phone scripts, and informal signage. We proposed one cohesive language system—across digital, print, and face-to-face interactions—so that the user experience felt like one continuous conversation, not fifteen disconnected ones.
What it means for Westmead
Our work showed that with thoughtful, integrated improvements, up to 70% of consumer enquiries could be reduced—freeing up valuable staff time and improving the overall experience for patients and visitors.
The strategy laid the foundation for a future where physical and digital systems support each other; where service processes and spatial environments are aligned; and where patients, carers, and staff experience a hospital that feels easier, more humane, and more intuitive.
Because great healthcare starts long before you see a doctor. It starts the moment you walk through the door—and the system should support you every step of the way.
